Tycoon Sir Tom warns schools have to do better
Sir Tom Hunter has spoken out about the failure of Scotl and’s classrooms and his despair for poor pupils who arrive at school hungry and without shoes.
The multi-millionaire philanthropist challenged Nicola Sturgeon over her Government’s failure in a documentary last night.
The First Minister admitted she is open to ideas on Scotland’s once world- l eading education system, which in recent years has seen plummeting standards in literacy and numeracy and concerns over the implementation of the SNP’s flagship Curriculum for Excellence (CfE).
Sir Tom, 54, who is worth an estimated £750million, said many children are already playing catch-up before they step inside the school gates. He added: ‘in some of the schools, teachers are bringing in the kids in the morning and feeding them their breakfast and maybe getting them shoes.
‘They’re making sure they’re clean and tidy. i thought, “Christ, this is Scotland in the 21st century”. Are there kids who can’t afford shoes? That was shocking to me. i don’t think it’s acceptable. Christ knows what’s happening back home. But the teachers are saints. They just get on with it and do it without complaint.
‘in some cases the teachers were going into the home and helping the parents with literacy and numeracy. That was a big eye-opener too.’
A report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Develop- ment last year, found vital skills in reading and mathematics have slumped. it also highlighted the gulf between the best and worst schools.
The study was tasked with investigating the reform of CfE which has been fiercely criticised by teaching unions and parents for its vague aims and botched implementation.
in an interview, Sir Tom said: ‘ We rest on our laurels in Scotland. in an attempt to say we want excellence for all, we have come up with one size fits all and it has stymied innovation in our education system. That is wrong.’
He urged ministers to adopt the Teach First model of recruitment and training, promoted in England and Wales but opposed by the Educational institute of Scotland union.
Sir Tom said: ‘i have looked into Teach First. We are losing some of the best graduates from Scotland who are going to England to get a fast-track into teaching. These are highly motivated, highly educated people who love teaching. Their enthusiasm, the positive attitude is so impressive. They are so ambitious for their pupils.’
in the documentary, Educating Sir Tom, he challenged Miss Sturgeon on why this is not happening in Scotland. She replied: ‘You know i’m not closeminded to anything that’s proving to work. i’m not ideological about this. if something can be proven to work we should try it. in fact, we should be prepared to try things to see if they work rather than sitting back and waiting to see if other people can do it.
‘Making sure our young folk get the best education is the only thing that matters to me and if something can be shown to work in doing that, then i’ll certainly be in the market for it.’
‘That was shocking to me’